


Baby Trouble

by Snowy_Snowflake



Category: New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Baby Kokichi, Baby Kokichi's a handful, But Shuichi Still Loves Him, Comfort, F/M, Fluff, HAPPY THANKSGIVING!, Light Angst, M/M, Saiouma-centric, Sleepy Cuddles, pure fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-20
Updated: 2018-11-22
Packaged: 2019-08-26 16:56:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 10,513
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16685515
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Snowy_Snowflake/pseuds/Snowy_Snowflake
Summary: Himiko casts a spell on Kokichi to turn him into a baby since he won’t believe magic exists. That goes just as well as you think...In other words, chaos ensues.





	1. So This Is How Shuichi Dies

**Author's Note:**

> Once again, this was *supposed* to be short, but since it’s 10,000+ words long somebody’s lying… Anywho, the next chapter will be up late on the 22nd! I hope you enjoy!

“Nyeh...I’m going to teach you not to disrespect my magic anymore! I finally have enough MP to make you believe!” Himiko was red in the face, shouting and pointing fingers at Kokichi who in all honesty, looked bored. 

“Woooow I’m sooo scared! What’re you gonna do? Cut yourself in half and come out perfectly fine? Make a rabbit appear out of your hat? Oh! Oh! Make yourself disappear? I’d love to see that one.” Kokichi threw his arms behind his head, looking out the window and admiring the cool, autumn breeze and multi-colored leaves falling down onto the crystal white snow. 

It was Thanksgiving and the students of Hope’s Peak had a whole week off, but everyone was currently snowed in due to the surprise blizzard making travel unsafe. That’s why everyone was over at Kaede’s mansion-like house for a whole week to celebrate. 

Sighing, he tuned back into the conversation, just missing one of Himiko’s rants about her magic. “That’s it! I’m going to do the spell now! This is your punishment for insulting me and my magic too much!” Himiko huffed. 

“I’m shaking.” Kokichi rolled his eyes, sarcasm leaking into his words. 

Himiko’s eye twitched. Then, taking a deep breath, she shut her eyes and began to chant a spell. “Crying, wailing, extremely light too, I’ll reverse the clock on you. Sleepy, hungry, 3 months old, you’ll believe what I’ve always told. Shrinking, crawling, a baby so small, make Kokichi 12 inches tall!” Himiko stuck her arms in the air when she got to the final verse. Opening her eyes, a smug smile formed on her face, seemingly accomplishing her spell. 

“Wooow, it’s toootally going to work now that you rhymed the spell! Were you even trying during that second verse?” The sarcasm was way too clear. 

Her face heated up. “Why you—” She stopped when Kokichi suddenly began to sway. 

“Woah...I feel...dizzy…” Kokichi fell to the ground, looking disoriented. “Nyeh! It’s working! Now you know my magic’s real! You’re going to be a baby for a whole day starting at exactly 12:00 a.m. You should’ve thought twice before insulting me, I am a real mage after all.” Himiko smirked, finally winning against Kokichi for once. 

“Can you just...help me up...gloat later.” Kokichi stuck out his hand, a hidden smile on his face as he waited for Himiko to fall into his trap. 

“Nyeh...I don’t know...I’m so tired after doing that spell...but fine, I guess I could spend a little more of my energy.” Himiko reached down to help him up, but when she touched his hand… _*ZAP!*_ “AH!” Himiko jumped back in surprise, cradling her hand. 

“Nee-heehee! Got you!” Kokichi stood up with ease, showing her the hand zapper on his palm. 

“No—no way! The spell should’ve worked! You—you tricked me!?” Himiko said with wide eyes and mouth slightly agape. 

“Aaaaand? I just couldn’t let the opportunity slip by! Making you believe you successfully casted a spell on me was just too good a prank to not play! Weeeeell, this has been entertaining, but I’m going to go see Shuichi now, feel free to ‘cast more baby spells on us’ maybe you’ll soon realize magic is fake and that you’re just lying to yourself.” Kokichi rolled his eyes and skipped away, off to find his beloved boyfriend, Shuichi. 

“Nyeh...you’ll see soon enough Kokichi, magic is real! Now where’s Tenko...I’m sleepy and too tired to walk to bed myself...Nyeh…I wasted so much MP...” Himiko drawled lazily, walking off to find Tenko. 

* * *

_Two days before Thanksgiving_

Nighttime came quickly, and with it, the exhausted 16 Ultimate's. The day had been eventful, from Kokichi starting a “Who can make the biggest leaf pile!?” competition—only to jump into the biggest one and laugh as Maki began to chase after him—to Himiko casting a baby spell on Kokichi. 

Of course, hardly anyone believed it except for Tenko who claimed, “Himiko’s magic is real and that degenerate male will turn into a baby!” Gonta then had to proceed to hold Tenko back in order to keep her from ripping Kokichi's head off. 

Shuichi sighed into the purple, lavender smelling hair in front of him, reminiscing the days events. Kokichi was already sound asleep in his arms, nothing but contentment and peace on his face. Shuichi wondered how someone so mischievous and tricky could look so peaceful in sleep. “You sure are a troublemaker, but I still love you...Sweet dreams, ‘Kichi…” He gently kissed his forehead, admiring the small, serene smile appear as he murmured something along the lines of, “Yeah...why do dolphins fly…?” before stilling again. Shuichi lightly chuckled, tucking the covers underneath himself and Kokichi. Once he closed his eyes, he instantly fell asleep. 

* * *

_One day before Thanksgiving_

Shuichi woke up like he did every single day. His arms were wrapped around Kokichi, Kokichi was curled up tight against his torso, and his knees were close to his chest, protecting something in his arms. Wait. Why were his knees close to his chest? Why was there a small warmth near him? Why was he protecting it so defensively? He looked down and realized... _Kokichi was a baby._

The pajamas he wore last night had covered most of his body, they were obviously way too big. He was sucking his thumb and the other hand was weakly holding onto Shuichi’s undershirt, he looked so calm and tranquil, the complete opposite of what Shuichi was feeling. 

His breath was caught in his throat, unable to stifle the gasp that came out. This action unfortunately woke the sleeping baby. “Mmm…?” The hand tightened itself around his clothes as two sleepy eyes opened, bringing a tiny fist to rub the lingering sleepiness out of his vision, he sleepily stared up at the thing that awoke him from his slumber. They immediately focused afterwards and blinked blearily at Shuichi, who was now staring at him with an incredulous look. “Shuwichi?” A high-pitched, groggy voice whispered his name. 

“K-Kokichi! Uh…” Instead of explaining, Shuichi lifted him up into his arms, sitting up on the bed as he waited for his reaction. _He’s so small and tiny that he fits perfectly in my arms…_ His mind remarked, causing his face to heat up a bit. 

That’s when Kokichi realized it and panicked. “Shuwichi!? I tiny!?” Kokichi cried out in confusion, placing his hands on the sides of Shuichi’s face in a futile effort to maintain eye contact. “This not good! I tiny and—and why can’t I spweak wight!?” Kokichi searched his face for answers, but only saw shock in his beloved’s eyes. 

The blush started to become more visible. “S-say my name again?” He requested suddenly. 

“Shuwichi?” Kokichi repeated confusedly, only to notice he couldn’t pronounce it right. “Shuwichi!? Shuwichi! Why can’t I say Shuwichi!? Shuwichi you face is wed? Why face wed?” Kokichi placed a hand on Shuichi’s red face, but since he was so uncoordinated his hand flopped around, hitting his forehead, cheeks, and mouth. Shuichi’s face got even redder with a heavy blush as he took in the adorable sight in his arms. 

_Shuwichi...Shuwichi...Shuwichi...He’s pronouncing my name wrong and it’s so adorable. Why is he so adorable!? Is this really happening? Am I dreaming? He’s so small and tiny and cute and..._ Shuichi was so caught up in taking in this adorable scene that he couldn’t comprehend anything else. 

“Shuwichi focus! We have an impow— impawt—impoawtment siwuation!” 

“Uh-huh…” 

“Awr you wistening!?” 

“Uh-huh…” 

“Shuwichi!?” 

“Uh-huh…” Shuichi’s mind was on autopilot, still unable to comprehend anything else. 

“Shu—” Shuichi raised a hand and started to pet his silky, purple hair, almost as if he were in a trance. “Awr you fweeling ok—” 

Finally, reality hit him. “...WAIT KOKICHI YOU’RE A BABY!?” Shuichi held him close to his chest, not wanting any harm to come to his now fragile and vulnerable boyfriend. 

“I thought we alweady estaw— estawb— estabwished this!” Kokichi shouted through the fabric of Shuichi’s shirt. 

“B-but how!? Why’re you a baby!? You shouldn’t be a baby! How’re you a baby!? Is it—is it Himiko’s spell!?” 

“...Oh.” Realization spread across both of their faces, a look of shock on Kokichi’s. 

“What do we do!? How do we turwn me back!? This is vwery sewious!” Kokichi said this with such a matter of a life-or-death voice that Shuichi had to do all he could not to laugh. His words and tone didn’t match up at all. “This is super sewious! We hafta turwn me— _achoo!_ ” Kokichi let out a small, kitten-like sneeze. 

Shuichi’s heart was racing. So this was how he was going to die, this was it. Death by adorableness...and it was all Kokichi's fault...of course. Shaking his head and pulling himself together, he sat up all the way and looked to the side, trying to keep the blush hidden and still his heart. “F-first we should find Himiko— or get you into some better fitting clothes. Your pajamas…” Shuichi picked him up, his shirt was the only thing that stayed on him, and even then the sleeves were twice the size of his body. 

Kokichi gasped. “This is pwep— prwehp— prewpaw—” 

“Preposterous?” 

“Yeah! Dah!” Kokichi agreed. 

“W-we should find Tsumugi to make you some baby clothes, then we should confront Himiko about...this.” Shuichi carefully got off the bed, grabbing Kokichi and bringing him to rest against his shoulder. _He’s so tiny and small… and incredibly fragile...too fragile._ Shuichi suddenly felt the urge to protect him, after all, he could easily get hurt when he was small like this. Not caring about his appearance, he walked out of their bedroom and headed towards Tsumugi’s room. 

Halfway there, Kokichi began playing with his ahoge, flicking it and pressing it down in fascination as it popped right back up again. “Hahaha!” Kokichi laughed as it popped up, having the time of his life. Shuichi smiled at his antics when Kokichi flattened his ahoge again, making baby noises of delight as it sprang up. 

“Having fun?” Shuichi inquired, slowing his pace down so Kokichi could play more. 

“Yah! Yah!” Kokichi clapped his hands and started messing with his own hair. “Wook! My haiw stwicking up!” Kokichi held up a strand of hair, mimicking Shuichi’s own. 

Shuichi smiled at him, leaning towards him to kiss his forehead. “You’re honestly too cute for your own good, love.” He ruffled his hair, now arriving in front of the room Tsumugi was staying in at Kaede’s. Just when he was about to knock, the door opened, revealing an ecstatic looking Tsumugi jumping up and down with joy. 

“Kokichi looks so much more adorable than I first imagined! Can I hold him!? Let me hold him! Please! He’s so cute and small and—oh! I have so many cosplay ideas I can try out on him! He can model them and he’d look so, so, so, so adorable! I need his measurements! Ah, and his regular clothes are too big, I should first starting working on some cute pajamas!” Without waiting for an answer, she took Kokichi from Shuichi's arms and walked into her room, mumbling different cosplay and fashion terms under her breath. 

“W-wait Tsumugi! Kokichi’s going to get scared! He doesn’t know what’s going on!” He followed her into the room, trying to reach for Kokichi’s outstretched hand to bring him back into the safety of his arms. 

She didn’t notice, too caught up in her own world. “Aww he’s so adorable and small! Can you hold him up while I get his measurements? I doubt he can stand with his small wittle wegs.” Tsumugi placed him on the bed, unable to discern that Kokichi was frowning at her as she dug through her bag to get some tools. 

When Shuichi came close to the bed Kokichi reached out, confused as to what was going on and just wanting Shuichi to hold him. Just before Shuichi was about to pick him up, Tsumugi grabbed Kokichi and sat him down on her hairdresser, still completely oblivious to the whole situation. “I should probably do it myself, it’ll be easier that way.” She mumbled to herself. 

“Tsumugi!” 

“Now don’t move, I have to get accurate measurements.” A determined shine appeared on her glasses, making Kokichi feel intimidated and scared with all her sharp and pointy tools around. She began measuring him, unable to see Kokichi’s teary eyed and frightened look. She wrote down several numbers and tossed the tape measurer aside, now taking out a different tool. 

“Tsumugi!!” 

“I’m going to have to make the fabric stretchable so that way when he goes back he won’t rip the clothes...Don’t worry, this is going to tickle—” 

“TSUMUGI!!!” Shuichi yelled, finally getting her attention. 

She instantly froze as she spun around. “...Oh...oh no! I got too caught up in the moment, didn’t I!? I-I’m so sorry!” Tsumugi put a hand to her mouth in embarrassment, now coming back to the reality around her. 

Shuichi sighed. “It’s fine, everyone gets carried away sometimes—” 

He stopped himself, now hearing the crying and mewling coming from behind her. “Uhh! *sniffle* Uh!” Baby Kokichi had tears in his eyes while making whiny noises, raising his arms to get picked up. “Shuwichi I scwared! I scwared!” Tears were cascading down his cheeks like a waterfall, afraid and confused as to why he was being moved around so much and watching a scary girl with sharp tools walk around him. 

A motherly instinct took over Shuichi as he walked over to where Kokichi sat. “H-hey, it’s ok...don’t be scared, everything’s fine.” Shuichi picked him up and brought him into his arms again, bouncing him slightly. Kokichi’s sniffling died down and the tears stopped as soon as he was picked up, feeling a calming sensation spread throughout him. 

“I really am sorry for making him cry! Someone so plain like me shouldn’t rush like that.” Tsumugi bowed deeply in apology. 

“You don’t need to worry about it, but...how did you know Kokichi was going to be a baby? I just found out this morning.” 

“Dah...!” Kokichi sleepily remarked, concurring with Shuichi’s words. 

“Oh, right! Himiko told everyone that she put a baby spell on Kokichi to make him turn into an adorably cute little baby.” She leaned towards Kokichi while saying the last line. “So practically everyone knows he’s a baby today!” She explained, taking out different pieces of fabric. 

“Dah!?” Kokichi interjected, throwing his arms up in the air with surprise. “Eweryone knows!? We need to change mwe back! Wight now!” He began struggling out of Shuichi’s grip, actually believing he was strong enough to walk. 

“Hold on! We’ll ask Himiko to change you back only if you stop struggling so much, I don’t want you to fall and hurt yourself...and I doubt you can walk being so small and all.” Kokichi looked like he was about to object, but stopped, realizing that Shuichi was indeed correct. 

“Fine…” Kokichi reluctantly agreed, ceasing his movements. 

At this Tsumugi looked up, noticing something strange in Shuichi’s sentence. “Wait, if you wanted to try to change Kokichi back, why did you visit me first and not Himiko?” 

Shuichi froze up, a slight pink forming on his face. “W-well...just call it a detective instinct—” 

“Wait! I’m guessing you wanted to see Kokichi as a baby for as long as possible before asking Himiko to turn him back, is that right?” Tsumugi wore a triumphant smile, understanding the hidden truth. 

Shuichi was beyond shocked. _How...how did she find me out?!_ “N-no! Th-that’s not— that’s not— C-can you make h-him some baby clothes!? A-and w-we should really g-get going! Bye!” Shuichi rushed out of the room, saying those words a little too quickly with a bright red blush on his face. 

“Shuwichi, wha she mean?” Kokichi asked innocently, tilting his head to the side in question. 

“N-nothing Kokichi.” Shuichi stuttered, looking away from him. 

“Oh...ok!” Kokichi hummed, nuzzling Shuichi’s neck and earning a small rub on his back in the process. A long, peaceful silence stretched out in the hallway, the only sounds were Shuichi’s footstep and small, content baby noises from Kokichi. 

With a yawn, Kokichi started to speak again. “Mmm...Shuwichi?” 

“Yes?” 

“I hungwy...and sweepy...and you’we comfy...and warm...and soft...and…and...I wuv you...an...d...an...” Kokichi dozed off right on his chest, small arms subconsciously clinging onto his shoulder and neck. Shuichi’s heart rate shouldn’t be beating this fast, what was this boy doing to him? 

“I ‘wuv’ you too.” Shuichi smiled, kissing his forehead. He could’ve imagined it, but he thought he saw Kokichi smile and snuggle closer to him. The rest of the way was calm and peaceful. Kokichi was napping on his shoulder and whispering incoherent words in his sleep while nuzzling his neck a little. He really didn’t want to wake him up when he was looking so content. Taking a deep breath, he neared Himiko’s door and knocked. 

That’s when everything went downhill. Tenko came out and started yelling about how they woke Himiko up from her sleep. She would’ve thrown both Shuichi and Kokichi into the wall if it weren’t for the fact that Himiko stopped her. “Nyeh...what do you two want? This better be important or else I’ll cast a spell on you.” Himiko rubbed her eyes, then noticed the small bundle of purple in Shuichi’s arms. “The spell worked!? I knew it! That’ll teach him.” Himiko put her hands on her hips in triumph, not expecting her spell to _actually_ work. 

“See? You degenerate males better believe Himiko’s magic exists now! It always did, just like she said!” 

“...Mm...wah?” The violet eyes opened sleepily, nuzzling his tiny head into Shuichi’s chest to wake himself up. He gasped when he saw his tiny hands. “Swo it...wasn’t a dweam?” Kokichi whined. 

“No...not a dream.” Shuichi patted his hair reassuringly, knowing he felt vulnerable like this. 

“Nyeh! That will teach you...my magic is real!” Himiko ruffled his hair, earning an annoyed glare from Kokichi. 

“Chwange me bwack! Wight now!” Kokichi puffed out his cheeks and chest, pointing a feeble finger at her. 

“Nyeh...I’m afraid I can’t do that. The spell I casted on you lasts for a whole day...from 12:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. You’ll be a baby for the rest of the day. But if you admit that my magic is real and apologize I'll be willing to forgive your ignorance.” Himiko explained simply. 

Nwo! Thwere’s no way I’m gwoing to dwo thwat!” Kokichi looked shocked that she just suggested something like that. 

“Nyeh...then I won’t forgive you and you’ll be stuck like this for a whole day.” She yawned sleepily. 

“Yes!” Shuichi whispered under his breath, unfortunately, everyone heard him. He froze and slapped a hand over his mouth, not intending for those words to come out. Everyone looked at him strangely. 

“Wah?! Shuwichi! How dwar you betway me!” Kokichi put a small hand on his cheek, signifying a weak slap. To Shuichi, it just felt like a gentle caress. Baby Kokichi was actually going to kill him. 

“S-sorry, you’re j-just so cute as a b-baby.” The stutter and blush didn’t seem to want to leave. 

“I not cute! I super ewil!” Kokichi put on a menacing glare that...wasn’t menacing at all. In fact, it was adorably cute that he was trying to act tough but his size betrayed him. Shuichi was halfway between exploding and melting, he didn’t know what to do. 

Kokichi huffed angrily, seeing Shuichi freeze again like last time. “Shuwmai! Pay attwention to me! I hungwy— _achoo!_ ” Kokichi once again let out his baby, kitten-like sneeze. 

“Tch. Degenerate male. He’s going to get all his baby germs on me!” Tenko assumed a fighting stance, arms up to protect her from his germs. 

“Well...off you go. I need to practice on some very important spells! Like conjuring up food for Thanksgiving tomorrow. I need complete concentration, so Kokichi can’t be around. Goodbye.” Himiko pushed them away, but for some reason Shuichi thought that that was just an excuse to get the two to leave. The door slammed shut and they were left out in the hallway. 

“I don’t wanna be a baby all day!” Kokichi complained, sticking out his lip in a pout. 

“It’s only for a day, be thankful that Himiko didn’t turn you into a baby for a month.” 

“Hmph. I gwuess…but space idwiot better not mwake fun of me! Or else.” Kokichi muttered ominously. Shuichi wondered what Kokichi could possibly do to Kaito, being a baby and all. Nonetheless, it would be quite funny to see what he came up with. 

Just when Shuichi was about to open his mouth, a new voice interrupted him. “I had a feeling Kokichi would turn into a baby. Luckily I prepared in advance.” Kirumi stepped out from the shadows, hands folded over each other like normal. 

It took all of Shuichi's strength and will power to not scream out loud like a small child, nearly causing him to drop Kokichi in the process. “O-oh, Kirumi! Good morning.” Shuichi greeted her with a shaky but warm smile, Kokichi waved ecstatically. 

“Mommy! Shuwichi’s howible at taking cawre of me! He almost squished mwe in my sweep!” Kokichi pointed an accusing finger at him, grinning wildly. “N-no I didn’t! Stop lying!” Shuichi blushed, shaking his head furiously. “But it twu! He almwost dwopped me on my wittle head! He’d be a howible pawent.” Fake tears collected in his eyes, a mischievous glint was hidden behind them. 

“Don’t cry! I’m sorry!” Shuichi didn’t know what he as apologizing for, but he hated it when Kokichi cried, even if it was fake. 

“Nwee-heehee! Always so guwible my bewoved!” The tears stopped instantly, a cheeky grin plastered on his face. 

Kirumi coughed into her hand, effectively getting their attention. “Sorry to interrupt, but if you would like I can take Kokichi off your hands for a little while. Tsumugi informed me that his clothes are ready, she’s waiting for him in her room. If you allow me to take him we can properly clothe and diaper him. Also, everyone’s heading to the living room to make plans for today so I suggest you go there.” 

“Thank you for telling me this—ah, Kokichi? Do you want to go with Kirumi and Tsumugi for a little bit? She’ll get you dressed into better clothes and you’ll be more comfortable.” Shuichi secretly wished Kokichi would say no, but he knew it would be better for him to go. 

“Of courwse! Mommy is the best cawrtaker!” Despite his eager words, Shuichi felt Kokichi’s hand tighten on his shirt in hesitation and uneasiness, not ready to let go of the comforting presence. 

Shuichi squeezed his shoulder reassuringly, offering an encouraging nod. “Don’t give Kirumi too much trouble, ok?” They were forehead to forehead now, staring into each other's eyes. 

“No pwomises!” Kokichi giggled, hugging Shuichi’s neck as a goodbye, making him sigh. 

“I told you not to call me ‘Mommy’ anymore. _*Sigh*_ Anyway, we should get going. See you later Shuichi.” When Kirumi took him, Kokichi looked sad to be leaving Shuichi behind, but any noise of discomfort was kept quiet. 

* * *

“Alright! Looks like we have our plans for today!” Kaede clapped her hands together in joy, the bright smile was on her face as always. 

“Hold up! Why does Kokichi not need to help out?! Why do we hafta watch him!? Does he just expect us to do all the work!?” Kaito stood up, visibly annoyed. 

“Were you even listening Kaito?” Maki face-palmed, exasperation in her voice. 

Kaito turned and gave her a thumbs up and an encouraging smile, letting her know that he was listening. “Yeah! I was listening 110% of the ti—” 

“Shuwmai!” A sudden, high pitched noise came from behind Shuichi, startling some of them. In a flash, a bundle of blue and purple appeared and wrapped itself snugly and comfortably into Shuichi’s chest. Behind him, he heard laughing and looked up to find Kirumi and Tsumugi chuckling happily. “Shuwmai! Shuwmai, Shuwmai, Shuwmai!” Kokichi repeated over and over again, begging for attention and affection as he hugged him tighter. 

Shuichi couldn’t help the wide, goofy smile appear at Kokichi's antics. “Hey ‘Kichi, you look comfortable.” Shuichi patted his head, earning a small affectionate nuzzle in return. 

“Yeah! Tsmuwgi mwade it! Don’t I look swo ewil!?” Kokichi spun around on wobbly and shaking legs in his lap like a fashion model, showing off the soft, dark blue fabric onesie with purple highlights slowly becoming lighter at the end of the arms and feet. His small feet were covered by the light purple and a small zipper ran up the pajamas on his chest. 

Meanwhile, Kaito was staring at the scene in absolute shock while the others held back silent “Aww’s” at the sight. 

Shuichi chuckled and brought him close, admiring his silly but proud smile. “Yes, you look super evil, just like the Supreme ‘evil’ Leader you are.” The pleased grin on Kokichi’s face made saying those words worth it. His grin made it seem like he just accomplished the biggest task in the world. 

“See Mommy! Shuwichi says I look ewil!” Kokichi puffed out his cheeks and chest, trying to look bigger than he appeared, but fell down into Shuichi's chest once his small legs gave out. Kokichi’s face reddened, conscience of all the pairs of eyes on him. 

“Haha, I hope he didn’t give you too much trouble, I know he can be a handful at times.” Shuichi chuckled, turning to Kirumi and Tsumugi. 

“No, he was no trouble at all. Though he couldn’t wait to get back to you. He missed you quite a lot, despite the fact that it was only 30 minutes.” Kirumi smiled as she explained the last part, a knowing look in her eyes as she and Tsumugi seemed to share an inside joke. 

At this, Kokichi shot right up. “Wha! Kiwumi that was a secwet!” Kokichi buried his head into Shuichi’s chest, now embarrassed she told his secret. 

More “Aww’s” were heard around the room, except for one person who was spluttering and absolutely shocked. 

“K-...Kokichi you—you shrunk!?” Kaito pointed a shaky finger at him, backing up as if he were a ghost. 

“I knew you weren’t listening.” Maki face-palmed again, sighing and shaking her head. 

“No dummy! Himewko turwned mwe inta a baby!” Kokichi huffed, glaring at Himiko who just snickered in return. Tenko looked like she was about to murder him. 

Their attention was suddenly drawn to Kaito bursting out into laughter, falling on the floor and clutching his stomach while tears of joy spilled down his face. “HA! I-I C-CAN’T B-BELIEVE YOU’RE A— A BABY! THIS HAS TO BE SO EMBARRASSING FOR YOU!” Kaito laughed his heart away, unable to notice Kokichi’s death glare through the laughter. 

“HAHAHA! YOU’RE ACTUALLY A—” Miu butted into the conversation but before she could say anything else, she was cut off. 

“No cursing in front of the baby, Miu!” Kiibo stepped in before she was able to unleash a string of curses, all of which no one wanted to hear. 

“What!? You can’t tell me what to—” 

“Yeah Mu! No curwsing!” Kokichi forgot about Kaito for a second in order to torment Miu, sticking his tongue out at her. Once Kokichi's words sunk into her head, she stopped, a look of rage on her face. “Wait a sec! I’m not a cow ya smaller brat! Take that back before I chuck your little baby face out the window!” Miu threatened, easily becoming angered. 

Kokichi gasped. “D-did you jwust….thweaten mwe?” His eyes began to water and his lip quivered, unleashing a river of fake tears. “WAAAAAAAAAH! MU WANTS TO HURWT MWE! SWAVE MWE SH-SH-SHUWMA-A-AI!—” Kokichi’s rant was cut short when his stomach growled in hunger, effectively stopping him. 

“Kehehehe, it appears someone is hungry.” Korekiyo pointed out, his voice sending chills down Kokichi’s spine. He wasn’t aware that he had subconsciously gripped onto Shuichi tighter, trying to press himself close to the safety he provided. 

“Are you hungry?” Shuichi solicited, tickling his tummy a little to ease his tenseness. 

“Hahaha! Ya! Ya!” The tears disappeared and was quickly replaced by laughter that filled the room and became music to Shuichi’s ears. When Kokichi laughed genuinely, his heart melted with joy. He wished Kokichi laughed like this more often. 

_*Growl*_ The growling from his stomach reminded them of the task at hand. “I hungwy...where food? Cwan I have Gwape Panta!?” Kokichi’s eyes sparkled, requesting the drink he adored so much. 

Shuichi bit his lip, not wanting to extinguish his excitement. “...Sorry ‘Kichi, but I don’t think babies are allowed to drink soda. But you can have some milk formula for breakfast. I think that’s the only thing babies are allowed to have.” Shuichi explained, trying not to catch his disappointed look. 

“Bwut milk fowmula swounds boring! I want Gwape Panta!” Kokichi demanded with teary eyes. 

Shuichi's heart started cracking, hating the sad look Kokichi was displaying. “I don’t want you to go hungry...but how about this, I can buy you some Grape Panta to give to you tomorrow, ok? As long as you drink the milk formula today. Alright?” His heart warmed with joy when he saw Kokichi’s eyes sparkle and light up again. 

“Weally!? Yay!” Kokichi cheered, giving Shuichi a big hug. 

“There should be some formula in the pantry, I’ll go get it. Everyone else should all do their jobs for today in preparation of Thanksgiving—oh! And don’t forget to look after Kokichi during your specific time, Shuichi can’t watch him every second of the day!” Kaede called as she walked into the kitchen. 

“So that’s what those times were...” Kaito mumbled absentmindedly as he sat up, making Maki sigh again. 

“I fell in love with an idiot…” Maki mumbled, the corners of her mouth twitching up fondly. 

“And I fell in love with the most amazing person in the world!” Kaito chimed in, wrapping an around around Maki's shoulder, causing her to blush and speed up her walking. 

Everyone dispersed and went to do their jobs, leaving Shuichi and Kokichi alone. “Are you going to be ok like this? I know how you feel about being...vulnerable like this.” Shuichi leaned back in the chair, feeling Kokichi hug his arm and lay his body across his chest. 

“I be fwine...I have youw awfta awll.” Because he was draped across Shuichi’s chest, he could feel his beloved’s heart speed up at impossible speeds. He suddenly got an idea. “And, you’wr the best boyfwend in the whoooole worwd! I always fweel safe with you…” Now he felt Shuichi’s heart rate pound loudly in his chest, when he looked up Shuichi was a blushing, stuttery mess. 

“W-w-well I-I-I u-uhm…” Shuichi didn’t know how words worked anymore, whenever Kokichi complimented him like this his brain would switch off, making him stutter and blush and turn into a mess of emotions. Imagine what a baby Kokichi could do to his heart and his head. 

“Ok! The bottles ready!” Kaede walked into the room, effectively saving Shuichi from his heart bursting. 

“Th-thanks K-Kaede.” Shuichi stuttered out, taking the bottle with a trembling hand. 

“No problem! Oh, and don’t forget to do the shopping for food!” Kaede prompted, heading back into the kitchen to cook. 

Once Shuichi got a hold of the bottle, it was stolen away by you know who. Kokichi grabbed the bottle of warm milk heated up in the microwave, small hands clasping the bottle uneasily as he tried to drink from it. Alas, he was just too small and weak to lift the bottle up to his mouth, his tiny hands feeble and useless in this situation. “Do you need help with that?” Shuichi asked politely, holding back a laugh and smiling at the cute scene in front of him. 

“No! I do it!” After failing several times to try and lift the bottle up to his mouth, Shuichi picked him up with ease and held him with one arm, the other held the bottle. “Gimme! I want baba—! Ba— Baba—?” Kokichi tried several times to say the word, ‘bottle’ but he discovered it hard to say and found saying ‘baba’ easier. Shuichi was going to get a heart attack from Kokichi being so cute all the time. 

“H-here you go.” He lifted the bottle up to his mouth, heart pounding even more when Kokichi reached out to grab it, knowing full well who was actually supporting it. 

After a few minutes, Kokichi nudged the now empty bottle away. “Full!” Kokichi proclaimed happily, no longer hungry anymore. 

“Good job ‘Kichi, you finished all of it!” Shuichi praised him, patting his back to burp him. 

_*Burp!*_ Kokichi let out a small burp, giggling from the action. He suddenly sighed in contentment, nestling his head between his neck and shoulder. “I wah lying befwore...Shuwmai is the best cawrtaker.” Kokichi admitted, looking completely serene and tranquil. 

“Aww, thanks love, I’m glad you think that.” Shuichi whispered, starting to get up and walk to their destination. 

“Or wah thwat a lie?!” Kokichi exclaimed. 

Shuichi rolled his eyes, at this point he wasn’t surprised. “Oh, you…” Shuichi chuckled. 

“Nwee-heehee! What cwan I say? I am a liar awfter all!” Kokichi snickered. 

Shuichi shook his head, staring at him fondly when suddenly his expression turned serious. “Kokichi, will you be ok playing with everyone? I can stay with you all day if you want? Or you can call me over when you want to.” Shuichi looked at him in endearment and gentle concern. 

“No! I be fwine! I cwan mess with space idwiot and get away with it like thwis!” Shuichi could practically see the gears turning in Kokichi’s head, making him wonder what kind of schemes he was planning. 

“...Alright, call me over whenever you feel scared, ok?” Shuichi added gently. Kokichi didn’t know why Shuichi was acting like this, it was as if Shuichi knew something he didn’t. 

“Supweme Weaders of ewil never get scwared!” Kokichi huffed, crossing his arms. Shuichi sighed again, a small smile forming at the corners of his mouth. “Swo who do I get to tworment first?” Kokichi questioned innocently, changing topics. 

“Ryoma’s going to look after you first, and please, don’t cause him too much trouble.” Shuichi clarified, stifling a giggle. 

“Why Wyoma? Why cwan’t youw look awfter me firwst?” Kokichi pouted, clearly unhappy. 

“I told you why before, I need to help set up for Thanksgiving...but I’ll come back as soon as I can, promise.” Kokichi looked...disappointed, but with a sad sigh, agreed. 

“Fiiiiine. Bwut if youw bweak the pwomise you hafta…” Kokichi stopped and bit the nail on his thumb, the action felt strange for some reason but he ignored it, seemingly lost in thought. “Give mwe a thouwsand baba’s of Gwape Panta!” Kokichi demanded. 

“Haha, then I’ll be sure to come back as soon as possible.” 

“Eiwther way I win! Nwee-heehee!” Kokichi giggled in triumph. 

Shuichi sighed for the thousandth time, this was going to be a _long_ day.


	2. KOKICHI!!!

“So _you_ want _me_ to watch a baby?—No, it’s a lot worse than that, a baby _Kokichi._ ” Ryoma gave him an ‘Are you kidding me’ expression, it practically screamed, ‘I killed a whole Mafia and you’re entrusting me to look after a baby. Please tell me you’re joking.’ 

“W-well it’s only f-for an hour or two— or I can just take him!” Shuichi squirmed under his glare. In truth, he didn’t want to leave Kokichi and was torn on whether to leave him with someone or watch him himself. He _wanted_ to stay and play with Kokichi all day but he had work he needed to do. 

Kokichi seemed to notice his internal struggle, so, he placed a small hand to his cheek to get his attention. “It ok! I swee youw swoon!” Kokichi gave him an encouraging smile and hug, making Shuichi internally scream. 

“ _*Sigh*_ I guess I can watch him.” Ryoma reluctantly gave in after giving it some thought. Shuichi felt slightly disappointed, but immediately squandered the thought. 

“Thank you...now please behave, Kokichi.” Shuichi looked him in the eyes, giving him one final hug before he left. 

“I thwink abouwt it…” Kokichi hugged him back, hesitantly letting go and getting held by Ryoma. 

“I’ll see you soon…” With a small smile, Shuichi walked out of sight. All of a sudden, a strange feeling bubbled up inside him as Shuichi left him to stay with Ryoma. He started to realize why Shuichi was acting so strange when the inexplicable feeling now formed in the pit of his stomach. Fear? Longing? Loneliness? Kokichi didn’t understand what it could possibly be, but the voice in the back of his mind was pleading for Shuichi to come back. 

_Thwis is pawthetic...Supweme Weaders can handle themswelves, I cwan go for a few hours without Shuwichi...wight?_

“Alright kid, what do you want to do?” Ryoma grumbled, effectively snapping Kokichi out of his thoughts. 

“Blow up the houwse!” Kokichi exclaimed. 

Ryoma sighed a long, agitated, drawn out sigh. “I should’ve never agreed to this. Why don’t we just sit down and—hey!” While Ryoma was talking, Kokichi reached up and grabbed his hat, falling on the floor with it. The hat was bigger than Kokichi was, making it fall over his body like a shadow. Muffled laughter could be heard underneath it. “Give that back.” Ryoma huffed, walking towards him. 

“Cwatch me thwen!” At this, Kokichi began blindly crawling away, giggling as Ryoma chased after him. 

“You still have a long ways to go…” Ryoma shook his head in annoyance as he followed after him. 

Not even 5 minutes went by and Kokichi had already caused trouble. He bumped into Kaito, and, seeing a moving hat, made him think it was a ghost and jump into Maki’s arms. She then dropped him out of embarrassment as Kokichi sat and watched, laughing with glee. 

“There you are.” Ryoma walked into the living room and angrily grabbed his hat, putting it back on his head. 

“Aww, you cauwght me!” Kokichi snickered. 

“WHY YOU LITTLE BRAT!” Kaito yelled, about ready to strangle Kokichi right then and there. His voice was obnoxiously amplified in Kokichi’s baby-sensitive ears, but if he flinched he didn’t show it. 

“I not wittle! I vertwacally chwallenged!” Kokichi countered. 

“Your head’s about to be vertically challenged if you don’t watch it!” Kaito threatened. 

“I-Is s-space i-idwiot th-thweatening m-me?! That’s s-so...MEEEEAAAAN! WAAAAAAAAAAH!” Kokichi began loudly crying, unleashing a rivers worth of tears. Maki rolled her eyes and Ryoma grumbled, Kaito was flabbergasted. 

“Stop crying! It’s annoying!” Kaito muttered. 

“Your existence is annoying!” Kokichi shot back, making the tears stop. It was clear that his condition hadn’t affected his wittiness. Maki looked like she was about ready to take out her knife and stab Kokichi, but bit down the urge to do so. 

“Hey! What’s going on here?” Kaede walked into the dining room with her hands on her hips and cheeks puffed out in a pout. 

“Kokichi stole my hat.” Ryoma muttered. 

“Kokichi made me think he was ghost! Luckily the luminary of the stars wasn’t scared.” Kaito explained. 

“Wiar! He jwumped intwo Mahki’s arms and thweatened mwe! H-he was *sniff* going to pwunch me!” Kokichi gave Kaede puppy dog eyes and a lip quiver, trying to pin the blame on Kaito. 

“That’s because you were askin’ for it!!” 

“Alright! Alright! Everyone calm down. It’s clear there’s some...tension. So I’ll watch him!” Kaede smiled ecstatically, it was obvious she just wanted to look after Kokichi and get away from work. 

“Sounds good to me.” Ryoma quickly agreed and walked out of the room as fast as he could. 

“Come on, Kaito. Let’s go.” 

“But Maki! He started it—!” Kaito was cut off when Maki dragged him out of the room, Kokichi stuck his tongue out at him as he left. 

“So Kokichi! What do you want to do? Are you hungry? Want to play? Oh! Maybe you want to help us bake!” Kaede scooped him up in her arms and sat on the floor. 

“Kwede! Put mwe down! Rahtawo help mwe!” Kokichi shouted behind Kaede, seeing Rantaro coming closer with a relaxed smile on his face. Meanwhile, Kaede was fawning over the way Kokichi spoke, stars shining in her eyes that seemed brightened up the whole room to Rantaro. 

“Awww! Isn’t he sooo cute! Just listen to how he says our names, Tary!” Kaede hugged baby Kokichi, tickling his tummy with her nose. 

“Kwede stop! Rahtawo save mwe!” Kokichi’s voice was muffled due to Kaede hugging him so tightly. 

“Haha, that sure is cute.” Rantaro sat down next to her and held him. Kokichi scowled angrily at him, but getting scowled at by a baby wasn’t intimidating...at all. In fact it just made him even cuter. 

“Hmmph! Why isn’t anywone twaking mwe sewiously? I still a big ewil weader!” Kokichi huffed, crossing his baby arms. 

“Mhm, you sure are. But you weren't big before, in fact you’re even smaller.” Rantaro smirked at his unamused expression. 

“Kwede save mwe! Rahtawo’s being mean!” They all laughed at his statement as they began playing with some toys. 

* * *

“Ok Kokichi, I think we’ve had enough time playing around, it’s time to go to the kitchen to see Kirumi and bake some cookies!” Kaede beamed, already picking Kokichi up. Was he a rag doll for everyone to pick up and drag around? 

“Yay! Cwookies! Huwwy up Kwede!” Kokichi demanded, squirming in her grip so they could go faster. 

“Fine! Fine! We’re going, see you soon Tary!” With a quick hug and peck on the cheek, the two parted ways to do their own activities. 

Once they got into the kitchen, they found Kirumi tending to various foods and baking delicious looking pies and treats. Kokichi’s mouth watered at the sight of all the snacks. 

“Ah, good afternoon Kaede, Kokichi.” Kirumi smiled, bending down to look at Kokichi as she greeted him. 

“Do you think you can watch him? You seem a bit busy at the moment.” Kaede inquired. “Oh, don’t worry about that. Shuichi’s helping me, he just stepped out to prevent Miu from making an...ahem, invention.” Kirumi explained. 

“Shuwmai!” Kokichi perked up at Shuichi’s name being mentioned, happy that the strange heavy feeling in his stomach eased a bit at his name. 

“Haha, you can set him down on the counter, I’ll tend to him as soon as I finish taking these cookies out.” Kirumi pointed to the counter, signaling for Kaede to put him down as she turned towards the oven. 

Just when Kaede set him down, he reached out and grabbed a warm cookie next to him. “Kokichi! Don’t eat that now, that’s for Thanksgiving tomorrow!” Kaede scolded him, reaching for the cookie. 

“And the day befwore is Thankstaking!” Kokichi smirked as he bit down on the cookie, only to register a few seconds too late that...he didn’t have teeth. So that’s why biting his fingernail felt weird, that’s why he saw everyone “Aww” and laugh when he smiled. Kokichi spit the cookie out, scowling at it as if it would attack him. 

“ _*Sigh*_ I told you…” Kaede shook her head, a knowing lilt in her voice. 

“Dwon’t mock mwe! Do youw know how harwd it is to accept the fwact that I can’t eawt cwookies! This is towture!” Kokichi flopped over onto his back dramatically, putting a hand over his eyes for greater effect. Kaede rolled her eyes and laughed. 

“Thank you Kaede, I can take it from here.” Kirumi suddenly appeared behind her, hands clasped together like usual. 

“Be careful, he’s a handful.” Kaede smiled, ruffling his hair as she walked away. 

“Where Shuwichi? He coming swoon?” Kokichi asked, voice borderline desperate as he sat up. Kirumi looked at him strangely, eyeing him up and down and making mental notes. 

“Don’t fret Kokichi, he’ll come back soon. Why don’t you help me make some cookies to take your mind off of Shuichi?” She offered politely. 

“Mmm...ok! I help you!” Kokichi allowed himself to be picked up and moved over towards the long counter, staring at the door in longing, anticipating Shuichi to walk in. 

“Can you give me this bowl of flour when I ask you?” Kirumi asked, placing the bowl of flour in front of him. 

“Mhm!” Kokichi hummed, swinging his legs back and forth. 

She nodded, then began adding ingredients to a bigger bowl at the far edge of the counter. Once they were all mixed together, she looked up. “Can you give me the flour now? Careful, it may be heavy for you.” She requested gently. 

“I suwper stwong! I don’t nweed to be cawful—woah!” In the middle of Kokichi’s speech, he had tripped over himself walking to Kirumi, causing the bowl to slip out of his hands and land on his head, completely dousing him in flour. Shuichi, of course, chose this time to walk in. Unknowingly walking into his own death by adorableness. 

“I convinced Miu to not make the—” Shuichi froze when he saw Kokichi on the counter covered with flour and a metal bowl adorning his head. 

Kokichi recognized the voice instantly, pushing the bowl up and out of his eyes to see his beloved. “Shuwmai!” Kokichi was so happy to see him that he tried to walk over to him, but failed since his legs were too wobbly. He settled for reaching out his arms and opening and closing his fists. “Up! Up! I wah up!” Kokichi demanded. The metal bowl fell into his eyes again. 

“C-cute! I-I-I m-m-mean Kokichi!?” Shuichi’s face was an unbelievable shade of red and his heart was pounding so loud and fast that he was surprised they couldn’t hear it. 

“Wha? Do I hawe somethwing on my fwace?” Kokichi pressed, tilting his head slightly to the side, feigning obliviousness to the fact that flour was all over him. 

“W-w-w-well u-u-u-uhm th-there’s I-I-I m-m-mean—” Shuichi was an absolute mess, was it possible for someone to be this cute? 

“Kokichi, you should be more careful.” Kirumi took control of the situation, noticing how Shuichi was internally screaming from his teasing. 

“Bwut Mommy! I am cawful!” Kokichi protested. Kirumi rolled her eyes, walking over to him to take the bowl of flour off of his head. “Rawr! I the fwour mahster!” Kokichi roared, curling his fingers to look like claws when she took the bowl off of him. 

At this point, Shuichi finally snapped out of his stupor and stumbled towards him, blushing madly. “Watch ouwt!” Kokichi jumped into his arms, covering his chest in flour. That strange heavy feeling disappeared as soon as he made contact with him, now replaced with a calm, warm, light, and relaxed feeling. 

“I m-missed y-you too.” Shuichi chuckled a bit, holding him close. 

“Looks like you’re going to have to add flour to the shopping list.” Kirumi sighed, writing it down. 

“Oh Kokichi, you’re such a troublemaker. Come on, let’s get you cleaned up.” Shuichi shot Kirumi an apologetic look as he walked out with a rambunctious Kokichi in his arms. 

After Kokichi was all cleaned up, they started heading to the living room to feed him. On the way, they bumped into Gonta. “Is that Kokichi? He so small! Like tiny bug! Can Gonta hold him?” The gentle giant looked so excited that Shuichi couldn’t refuse, but he didn’t want Gonta to crush poor Kokichi, he was small after all. With extreme caution, Gonta held baby Kokichi, he was barely the size of one of his hands. 

“Higher!” Kokichi demanded, pulling at his sleeve. 

“Kokichi want to go on Gonta’s shoulders?” 

“Da!” Kokichi answered. 

“I don’t think that’s a good idea—” Shuichi’s plea went unheard when Kokichi was suddenly on top of Gonta’s shoulders, nothing but wonder and amazement in his eyes. 

“Wook Shuwichi! I so twall!” Kokichi looked at him like he just accomplished something big, smiling widely. Any form of word abandoned him at that moment, well, they did every time Kokichi did something cute. 

“Why Shuichi have red face? Is Shuichi sick?” Gonta inquired as he got Kokichi back down, worried for his friends health. 

“N-n-no! W-we should g-get g-going now! Th-thanks Gonta!” Shuichi gently grabbed Kokichi and took off, hiding his blush in the corner of his white shirt. Kokichi laughed at him the whole way to the living room. 

It wasn’t long before Kokichi started antagonizing Kaito, a devious smirk on his face as he began pushing all his buttons, which was why Kokichi was sitting on the ground with Kaito shouting angrily at him. Maki and Shuichi just sighed. “Dwon’t be swo mean Kaidiot!” Kokichi sniffed dramatically. 

“Hey! You know that’s not my name! You’re just saying my name wrong because you have an excuse—” 

“Kaidiot! Kaidiot! Kaidiot!” Kokichi’s eyes brightened, thinking of an idea as he pulled on Shuichi’s pant leg, trying to get his attention. “Kaidiot!” He pointed a hand at Kaito, acting like a child who just remembered a big word and kept repeating it for praise. “Tha Kaidiot! Tha Kaidiot!” Kokichi explained, jumping up and down and pointing. 

“Very good Kokichi! You almost got his whole name.” Shuichi picked him up, praising him for...trying. 

“You’re just gonna let that slide!? He called me an idiot!” 

“He’s younger than you, he doesn’t know better.” Maki interjected. 

“Kaidiot!” Kokichi cried. 

“Even my own Maki Roll is against me!? He’s doing that on purpose!” Kaito pointed a hand at him. 

“Kaidiot!” Kokichi stuck out his tongue in retaliation. 

“Yes Kokichi, ‘Ka-idiot’ is right.” Maki praised him. 

“Maki Roll!!!” She smirked at him, hiding a laugh in the form of a cough. Kokichi made giggling noises. 

“Shuwmai! Wha that?” Kokichi pointed behind him, making Shuichi turn around. When he did, Kokichi let an evil grin slip onto his face as he stuck out his tongue at Kaito, mocking him. 

“DID ANYONE SEE WHAT HE JUST DID!?” Kaito shouted, pointing an accusing finger at Kokichi. 

In response Kokichi hugged Shuichi tighter, clearly frightened. “Kaito! Not so loud, his ears are sensitive since he’s a baby! He’ll get startled if you shout like that.” Shuichi scolded him, rubbing Kokichi’s back soothingly to ease his whimpers. Immediately, Kokichi started to cry and wail, sniffling and hugging Shuichi. 

“Kaidiot scwary!” Kokichi started to tremble, clearly unused to the far too loud noises. 

“Aww Kokichi...It’s ok, it’s ok.” Shuichi cradled him in his arms, the soothing gesture making Kokichi settle down a bit. 

“Kaito you made him cry! Apologize!” Maki crossed her arms, a disapproving frown on her face. 

“No! There’s no way I’m apologizing to him!” 

“Kaito.” 

“No!” 

“Kaito. Now.” 

“But Maki Roll—” Her glare silenced him. With a sigh, Kaito dragged his feet over to baby Kokichi. “I’m sorry for yelling at you.” It took all of his strength to say that one line. 

“WAAAAAAH! Kaidiot not nice! His apowoah— apowlgy not good enough! Kaidiot has to get on his knees and beg for forgwiv— fowgive— fowgivenesses!” Kokichi huffed. Their fighting was attracting the attention of the other students. 

“No. There is no way I’m doing _that!_ ” Kaito argued. 

“Yes youw arw!” 

“No I’m not!” 

“Yes youw awr!” 

“Make me!” Kokichi tugged on Shuichi’s sleeve, signaling for him to put him down. Once he did, Kokichi puffed out his chest and stood on wobbly legs, trying to look tall and scary but...it had the complete opposite effect. 

“I’m a super ewil Supreme Weader! My orgwani— organwi— organwise—” 

“Organization.” Shuichi offered helpfully. 

“Yeah! Tha! They can—woah!” Kokichi’s tiny legs gave out, making him fall on his bottom. Choruses of “Aww’s” came from around the room, Kokichi was blushing madly, pouting at Shuichi to get him away from everyone. 

“Ok, ok, that’s enough. Stop fighting before Kokichi gets hurt.” Rantaro stepped in to the conversation, an easy going look in his eyes. 

“If I remember correctly, Shuichi don’t you have to go shopping for ingredients and other items so we can celebrate the holiday of turkey?” Kiibo thought aloud. 

“Kiibs, it’s called Thanksgiving, meaning that everyone is thankful for a genius like me and gives me gifts!” Miu put an arm on Kiibo’s shoulder, explaining her meaning of thanksgiving to him. 

“But I’m already thankful for you? And I thought the gift part was the holiday of a man in red breaking into your house?” Kiibo asked her, beyond confused. 

“No! That’s Christmas! And the man that breaks into your house is called Santa! Haven’t you heard, ‘He knows when you are sleeping, he knows when you’re awake, he knows if you’ve been bad or good so be good for goodness sake’?” Miu deadpanned. 

“Has this man been apprehended!? He seems to be violating a lot of people’s privacy!” Kiibo looked horrified. Miu face-palmed, already giving up. 

“Nwee-heehee! I know what I dwoing this year!” Kokichi butted in. 

“Anyway! You should get going Shuichi, the store’s going to close at dusk.” Kaede reminded. 

“Are you sure it is wise to make Shuichi go to the store? Kokichi may have the same mentality before he became a baby, but he’s still a baby. I’ve noticed that he may have separation anxiety when Shuichi leaves him alone.” Kirumi brought up. 

Shuichi stopped, taking her words into consideration. “Kokichi, are you absolutely sure you’ll be ok when I go to the store? I can always stay here while someone else goes...You know you can tell me what you’re really feeling, right?” Shuichi spoke gently and soothingly, catching the way Kokichi’s first words faltered. 

“I— I be fwine! Dwon’t worry!” Of course he wasn’t fine. But he wasn’t going to admit he was scared when everyone was around him, maybe if he and Shuichi were alone he would tell him about the nervous feeling he felt in the pit of his stomach, but they weren’t. 

Shuichi seemed reluctant to say what he was about to say next. “...Ok. But I’ll come back as soon as I can, it's just a quick walk to the store and then I'll be back. Understand?” Shuichi gave him a tight hug, then set him down. 

“Swee youw swoon!” Kokichi waved as Shuichi walked out the door. 

Suddenly, that feeling he felt before came back, this time stronger than ever. The reality of everything set in. Kokichi no longer had Shuichi to hold him or protect him, he was alone again. His classmates looked terrifying and intimidated him with their tall heights and menacing forms. He suddenly felt...scared. He was weak, defenseless and... _vulnerable._ He couldn’t grab the mask he had made for himself, he didn’t know how to put it on. His walls were crumbling and his defenses were failing, allowing anyone to attack when he was weak like this. Tears began falling before he even knew it, choking down sobs that wracked his small body. 

“Kokichi? What’s wrong?” Kaede got down on the floor to face him, worry in her eyes. “Are you hungry? Does something hurt? You can tell me, I’ll help you.” Kaede softly cooed as to not scare him. 

“I w-want *sniff* Shuwichi...I *sniff* I scwared!” He began to cry quiet tears, unable to meet her pitying gaze. 

“Don’t worry Kokichi, Shuichi will come back as quickly as possible, what’re you scared of? Maybe we can fix it?” She offered helpfully, the others stood frozen in place. 

“N-no! I *sniff* want Sh-Shuwichi...I want to turwn b-back *sniff* I don’t want *sob* to be a b-b-baby anwymore!” Kokichi brought his hands up to his eyes, curling in on himself to defend him from the fear he felt. 

“Hey, hey...it’ll be ok, he’s coming right back! Don’t worry.” This however, just made Kokichi worry more, whimpering and whining and sobbing as he tried to make himself smaller. “Don’t cry! Here, let’s try and help you!” Kaede and the others began scrambling around the house in search for things to keep Kokichi’s mind off of Shuichi, but no matter what they did Kokichi just didn’t stop crying. The only way to calm Kokichi down was Shuichi. 

“Himiko! Can’t you put a spell on that degenerate male to make him stop crying!” Tenko shouted, covering her ears. 

“Nyeh...what was that?” Himiko yelled back, already having ear muffs on to block out the noise. 

“Himiko can you turn him back now?” Ryoma huffed. 

“No...the spell lasts for one day...he’ll turn back tomorrow morning.” Himiko mumbled sleepily. 

“He’ll stop crying once Shuichi comes back! We just have to be patient!” Tsumugi exclaimed optimistically. 

“How long’s that going to take!? My gorgeous brain can’t handle all the screamin’!” Miu replied. 

“Look! He’s here now!” Kaito pointed out the window, sighing in relief. 

When Shuichi opened the door, his heart started to break. The sight that greeted him was sad and overall...painful. Kokichi was sobbing and shaking on the ground, nothing seemed to calm him down. The others looked at him with shame and desperation. As soon as he stepped inside, Kokichi looked up and let out a noise of discomfort and shock. He crawled as fast as he could over to him, latching onto his leg and sobbing some more. 

Shuichi froze and nearly dropped the bags he was holding. “Hey...hey what’s...what’s wrong? What happened? Are you hurt? Are you ok?” Shuichi set the bags down and picked up Kokichi, who had now latched onto his chest. 

“P-pwease! D-don’t *sniff* go! D-don’t leave a-agwain!” Kokichi sobbed some more. 

“Oh _‘Kichi,_ it’s ok. I’m not going to leave again.” He cooed. Kokichi didn’t reply, he just buried himself deeper into Shuichi’s chest, embarrassed and ashamed of his emotions. 

“Thank you for looking after him while I was gone, but I think I’m going to tuck him into bed. He’s had enough for one day.” Shuichi addressed the group, slinking away with quiet “Shh's” and soothing sayings with Kokichi. It wasn’t long before they had arrived to the room in silence with the exception of Kokichi’s quiet sniffles. 

“Why didn’t you tell me you were scared? I wouldn’t have left you alone at all today if I had known.” Shuichi’s voice sounded a little hurt, realizing Kokichi hadn’t trusted him enough. 

“I didn’t *sniff* w-want eweryone to *sniff* know…” Kokichi whimpered. Shuichi looked at him with sympathy and sadness, laying him down on his lap as he got out a bottle. 

“Open,” Shuichi coaxed, raising the bottle up to his mouth. Kokichi complied, this time too tired to hold onto it. “We’ll work on your trust later, we should get you to bed now. You must be really tired.” Shuichi set the bottle down, then placed Kokichi under the covers. 

“Uh! Uhh!” Kokichi made whimpering noises when Shuichi drew away, grabbing onto his hand to prevent him from leaving. 

“It’s ok. I’m just going to put my pajamas on, I’ll come right back. Don’t panic, it’s going to be ok.” Shuichi squeezed his hand in reassurance, then quickly changed and came back. 

He found Kokichi fast asleep. Shuichi felt a proud feeling bloom in his chest when he noticed Kokichi smile and subconsciously stretch a hand out towards him once he entered. Quietly moving towards forwards, Shuichi curled up next to him, wrapping his arms around him to keep him warm. He felt a strong, almost motherly instinct well up inside him as he snuggled up with baby Kokichi. “I love you.” Shuichi whispered, then fell asleep next to him. 

* * *

When Shuichi woke up, he found that baby Kokichi was...no longer a baby anymore. Instead, he was his normal, small, perfect (in Shuichi’s opinion) size. He smiled when he realized Kokichi was wrapped around his torso, snuggling into his warmth like a little Koala. 

_Himiko’s spell must’ve worn off. Good, Kokichi will be happy about that._ Instead of waking him up, he peacefully observed his boyfriend’s sleeping face. He usually had to many emotions and masks on that it was refreshing to see a calm, relaxed face. He loved how the sunlight reflected off of his hair, bathing the purple tips in a golden, mystifying glow. He loved how he saw his chest rise and fall with each quiet breath and how he’d sometimes hug him tighter whenever he felt cold or needed comfort or affection. 

Shuichi was so hopelessly in love with the boy in front of him. He couldn’t resist the urge to kiss him right then and there, and when he did, two sleepy, confused, violet eyes opened. “Mmm...Shu?” Kokichi mumbled groggily. 

“Hey ‘Kichi...how’re you feeling?” Shuichi pulled back, petting his hair softly. 

“Good, but I have a strange craving for a baba—bottle.” The two looked at each other in silence, then bursted out into merry laughter. They laughed until their sides hurt, then laughed some more. 

After calming down slightly, Shuichi wrapped him up in a hug. “Happy Thanksgiving Shumai! Thanks for dealing with me yesterday—and everyday.” Kokichi whispered quietly. 

“Happy Thanksgiving love, and I wouldn’t have it any other way....and...I’m thankful for you not being a baby anymore.” 

“Oh? Why’s that? Did you not like me as a baby!? Not cute enough for you!?” The crocodile tears came quickly, he threw in a small lip quiver and puppy dog eyes to sweeten the act. 

“N-no! Because now I can do...this.” Shuichi pulled him into a tender kiss, laughing as he felt him freeze up. Kokichi was always a mess after Shuichi was the one to kiss him, it was usually the other way around but whenever Shuichi got a burst of confidence their roles switched. 

When he pulled away, Kokichi was struggling to pull himself together but the maddening blush gave him away. 

“O-oh yeah!? W-well—well I’m thankful for having the most amazing person in the world as my boyfriend!” He tried to recover, but the stutter in his voice betrayed him. 

Shuichi smiled fondly at him, nothing but love in his gaze. “Me too.” That definitely killed him. 

“I— U-um— A-ah— I—!” His mind became blank as he desperately tried to search for words, all of which were leaving him. Shuichi chuckled. 

“I ‘wuv’ you so much, you’re too cute, even as a baby.” 

“Stooooop!” Kokichi whined, hiding his face in Shuichi’s chest. 

“Consider it payback for yesterday.” 

“Y-you should be m-more careful! Th-the whole world is m-mine after all! I can send my s-subordinates after you on the account of flustering me!” Kokichi tried to take control of the situation, but the ever growing blush on his face just wouldn’t stop. 

Shuichi pulled him closer, an idea coming to mind. “The world is mine too, in fact,” Shuichi cupped Kokichi’s face. 

“I have my whole world right here.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What Shuichi’s technically saying is, “Mine. End of story.”  
> Anyway, Happy Thanksgiving! I’m super thankful for everyone who reads the things I write, it’s greatly appreciated and I hope you continue to enjoy the things I make. Thank you! <3 (If you don’t celebrate Thanksgiving then have a great Day/Night/Morning!)


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